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About

The Western Michigan* Genealogical Society (www.wmgs.org) was founded in 1954 with the purpose of preserving and making available for genealogical research the records of our ancestors; encouraging and assisting members in genealogical research; promoting the exchange of knowledge and encouraging the deposit of genealogical records in established libraries and archives.

*Includes Kent County and the counties immediately surrounding; namely Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Montcalm, Ionia, Barry and Allegan Counties. There is some extension beyond these counties into other areas of the Western Lower Peninsula.

This Saturday, February 3, the Black Family History Series at the Grand Rapids Public Library kicks off at the WMGS monthly meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Ryerson Auditorium. We announced a speaker change last Friday. This is a reminder… You’ll not want to miss Tony Burroughs. As our featured speaker at the GotAncestors Annual Seminar in 2011, Tony received outstanding reviews from attendees.

African Americans often think they don’t have any genealogical or family history information to begin their research. This lecture is designed to dispel that myth by presenting an array of strategies, methods and techniques to research forward. At the completion of this lecture the participant will have developed an appreciation of his/her historical past and the vast array of ancestral, artifacts, heirlooms, family memorabilia and other treasures.

Tony Burroughs is founder and CEO of the Center for Black Genealogy. He is an internationally known genealogist who taught genealogy at Chicago State University for fifteen years. Burroughs researched Olympic Gold Medal sprint champion Michael Johnson’s family history and consulted on the Smokey Robinson genealogy, the Oprah Winfrey genealogy, Reverend Al Sharpton-Strom Thurmond genealogy, African American Lives2, Who Do You Think You Are, The Real Family of Jesus and consulted with Chicago Public Schools, New York Public Schools, Chicago City Colleges and Ancestry.com.